Toronto building owners sued for bird deaths

( Washington, D.C., April 13, 2012) As we await a verdict in the first trial of a building owner over bird collision deaths,
a second trial over the same issue has just begun in Toronto. Cadillac
Fairview Corporation, the owner of three office buildings in the city, has
been charged with violating Canada’s Species at Risk Act. The company has
pleaded not guilty.

The charges are being brought in a private
prosecution by Ecojustice, a Canadian non-profit environmental law firm. The Toronto-based
non-profit Fatal Light
Awareness Program (FLAP), which works to document and prevent bird
collisions with buildings, estimates that the complex is among the most
lethal in the city. Ten birds in two species - Canada Warbler and Olive-sided
Flycatcher – were killed at the Yonge Corporate Centre buildings and are
listed as Threatened under the Canadian Species at Risk Registry. The charges
also allege that an additional 800 birds were killed at the complex in 2010.

The highly reflective glass of the
deadly buildings mirrors nearby trees and the sky, which likely leads birds
to mistakenly fly into the windows and be killed or injured.

“Cost-effective technology now exists to
greatly reduce these unnecessary deaths from collisions with buildings, and
some U.S. cities, such as San Francisco, have adopted bird-safe standards to
ensure they are applied. American Bird Conservancy has just published Bird
Friendly Building Design - the first national guide to designing and
retrofitting buildings to be safer for birds,” said Dr. Christine Sheppard,
Director of American Bird Conservancy’s Bird Collisions Campaign Manager.

The Guide will be especially
helpful to architects, planners, building owners and regulators and is
available at www.abcbirds.org. ABC also
has helped design classes eligible for American Institute of Architects
sustainable design credit, to instruct architects on how to design beautiful
buildings that are also safe for birds.

A verdict is pending in the first trial,
against Menkes Developments and related companies who are the owners of the
Consilium Place complex (three office buildings) who were charged under
Canada’s Environmental Protection Act with discharging a contaminant – light
reflected from the glass – that causes harm to animals.

In addition to possible fines under that
law, the Menkes companies also face a maximum fine of $60,000 under the
Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act for causing birds
to be in distress.

Ecojustice and Ontario Nature brought the
charges in the first case, claiming that the buildings, whose exterior faces
are almost entirely glass, are responsible the deaths of about 7,000 birds in
the last decade, making them the most deadly in the entire Greater Toronto
area.

Almost 30,000 birds were documented to have
been killed by such collisions in Toronto between 2000 and 2010, according to
FLAP, but estimates suggest the actual toll may be closer to one million.

American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a
501(c)(3) not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to conserve
native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. ABC acts by
safeguarding the rarest species, conserving and restoring habitats, and
reducing threats, while building capacity in the bird conservation movement.

Washington, D.C., November 9, 2011) American Bird
Conservancy (ABC), the nation’s leading bird conservation organization, has
called on the mayors of U.S. cities to stop the epidemic spread of feral cats
that threaten national bird populations as well as scores of other wildlife. Letters
were mailed to mayors of the fifty largest cities in the United States,
urging they support responsible pet ownership and oppose Trap-Neuter-Release
(TNR) programs that promote the feeding of outdoor cats.

“Cat overpopulation is a human-caused tragedy that
affects the health and well-being of cats, our native wildlife, and the
public,” says Darin Schroeder, Vice President for Conservation Advocacy for
ABC in a letter to the mayors. “Numerous published, scientific studies have
shown that trap, neuter, re-abandon programs do not reduce feral cat
populations, and that outdoor cats, even well-fed ones, kill hundreds of
millions of wild birds and other animals each year in the U.S., including
endangered species. Birds that nest or feed on the ground are especially
vulnerable to cat attacks.”

“What few people seem to understand is that the
domestic cat is an extremely effective predator that has been introduced by
modern man into an environment whose species have evolved few, if any natural
cat defenses. Non-native, well-fed, inoculated, healthy cats versus
defenseless prey is about as fair in the world of nature as the proverbial
shooting of fish in a barrel,” he said.

Studies indicate that there are 95 million outdoor and
feral cats in the United States that kill at least 532 million birds, and
possibly significantly more. Given the well-documented impacts of cat
predation on wildlife, ABC urges the mayors to oppose TNR programs and the
outdoor feeding of cats as a feral cat management option.

Specifically, ABC asks the mayors to issue a policy
directive opposing TNR, and to halt city funding for the practice if any is
currently being expended. The ABC letter says that dog overpopulation
problems aren’t solved by simply turning unwanted dogs loose onto the
streets; the same should be true for cats. Ensuring responsible pet ownership
is at the core of any long-term solution to the cat overpopulation
problem.

“This is a problem in every city in America including
our most populous, New York City,” said Schroeder. “Unfortunately we see too
many cities abdicating their responsibility to public welfare and wildlife,
and embracing TNR programs. We urge Mayors to take a closer look and
recognize this doesn’t work to reduce cat populations.”

ABC suggests communities concerned about feral cats
work to enact mandatory licensing programs, the fees from which can fund
programs to help find homes for the unwanted pets and educate pet owners
about keeping their cats indoors. Through the Cats Indoors! Campaign, American Bird
Conservancy and its many partners encourage people to keep their cats
indoors, train them to go outside on a harness and leash, or build outdoor
cat enclosures. Cats should be spayed or neutered before they can produce an unwanted litter,
and should never
be abandoned. Abandoning cats is illegal in many areas, is extremely cruel to
cats, and is harmful to birds and other wildlife. Further, the sanctioning of
cat colonies by local officials only serves to encourage cat owners to dump
more unwanted cats at these sites.

“TNR is not
humane to the cats or the wildlife. Free-roaming cats are in constant danger
of being hit by cars, contracting diseases and parasites, or being attacked
by other animals or people,” said Schroeder. “Colonies often become dumping
grounds for unwanted pets, thus continuing the inhumane cycle.”

Cats can also transmit diseases such as rabies,
toxoplasmosis, and cat scratch fever to humans. In fact, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared that cats are the top
carrier of rabies in domestic animals. In just the last month, about 30 feral
cats in northwestern Florida were euthanized following tests that confirmed
two feral cats in the area were indeed rabid.

Food left out at TNR colonies attracts not only more
cats, but hungry wildlife as well, which increases the chances for
interactions with rabid animals. Three people in Florida living in the
vicinity of TNR feeding sites were bitten last year by rabid cats and had to
undergo rabies treatments.

Federal, state, and local governments have responsibilities
under the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act to protect
birds. Failing to do so can result in legal penalties and civil liability.

The National Association of Public Health
Veterinarians, The Wildlife Society, and the People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals have joined ABC in opposing TNR programs.

These issues are explained in an informative video on
TNR and cat colonies, viewable here and on the ABC website.

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American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a 501(c)(3)
not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to conserve native
birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. ABC acts by safeguarding
the rarest species, conserving and restoring habitats, and reducing threats,
while building capacity in the bird conservation movement.